18 March 2014
Regional broadcaster, Channel NewsAsia, is migrating to a new generation satellite, AsiaSat 7, C-Band, with effect from 31 March 2014. All traffic on the current AsiaSat 3S will be moved with no changes to its parameters or other viewing options.
AsiaSat 7 is designed to replace the aging AsiaSat 3S which was launched in 1999 with a 15-year design life and would reach its scheduled retirement in 2014.
The migration is being handled by engineers from AsiaSat and MediaCorp, and does not affect viewers or operators.
On Wednesday 19 March Channel NewsAsia presents:
MH370 Special: Passport to Crime
The mysterious disappearance of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 exposed the fact that some passengers had boarded the doomed flight with stolen passports. We follow their trail from check-in at Kuala Lumpur International Airport to Thailand and an underworld of passport crime. How did this happen? And what price are we going to pay? The Director of Interpol calls passport fraud the most serious security threat in the world. So, why has it been ignored for so long? We profile the security experts and investigators who are battling to track down the syndicates behind this trade – and ask why airports and airlines refuse to crack down.
Wednesday, 19 March 2014, 8.00pm (Sin/HK/MNL time)
Encore telecasts
Wednesday, 19 March, 12.30am
Thursday, 20 March, 5.00am
Friday, 21 March, 1.00pm
Saturday, 22 March, 6.00am
Sunday, 23 March, 3.00am
17 March 2014
The AIB is delighted to welcome Cameroon Radio Television as its latest Gold member.
The full press release can be downloaded here:
17 March 2014
Globecast has been chosen as the content delivery service provider for London Live, a new TV channel dedicated to London scheduled to launch on 31 March 2014. Globecast will provide turnkey connectivity for London Live, including satellite capacity and uplink, for UK subscribers of the Sky DTH satellite service. London Live will be available to Sky customers on channel 117.
London Live is London’s first dedicated 24/7 TV entertainment channel, offering Londoners the latest in arts, news, current affairs, sports, and events as is part of a wider trend towards localised content. London Live is owned by ESTV. ESTV won the London television franchise auction in February 2013, launching 31st March 2014. It will be available on Freeview 8, YouView 8, Sky 117 and Virgin 159 as well as being available in non-linear digital formats. ESTV is 100 per cent owned by Lebedev Holdings.
“We are extremely excited to be involved with the launch of London Live, the first 24-hour channel devoted exclusively to London and Londoners,” said Juliet Bayliss, Sales Director for Globecast UK. “In entrusting us with its new flagship channel, this is providing strong market validation of Globecast’s industry leadership and technical excellence. We’re looking forward to applying our experience and content delivery expertise to make London Live a resounding success.” (Source: press release)
16 March 2014
Arab Satellite Communication Organization -ARABSAT- announces the release of a Request for Proposal for the procurement of four new satellites to be designated HS3, HS4, AR6E and AR6A.
The new satellites will be positioned at three different orbital locations with a vast coverage over Middle-Eastern, African, Asian and European markets with high power DTH payload in Ku bands and Ka spot beams capacities. Arabsat CEO Khalid Balkhyour commented: “The RFP for Arabsat’s 6th generation satellites reflects the company’s views on the exciting growth opportunities ahead of us and our commitment to capitalize on these opportunities.”
The two new HS3 and HS4 satellites will be favorable to the replacement of Hellas-Sat’s current HS2 at 39° East orbital slot with additional capacities in Ku and Ka bands payload brought to customers with great flexibilities. HS4 will, additionally, provide Arabsat with prime Ku-band capacity over Europe and the Mediterranean which will complement the existing in-orbit capacity . The current Hellas-Sat 2 covers Eastern Europe, part of the Middle East and South Africa.
ARB6E and ARB6A will have payload capacities in Ku and Ka bands. They will be dedicated to support the growth of ARABSAT’s business and provide in-orbit backup capacity to its customers; and to serve the increase in the markets demand for satellite capacities and services over the Middle-east, Africa and Asia. All four satellites are set to launch in 2016 and 2017.
Proposals are due no later than May 1st 2014, and it is ARABSAT who will manage this tender and pertinent contracts, which will be awarded through a full and open competition.
(Source: Arabsat press release)
11 March 2014
SES announced today that Nawras, one of the largest wireless operators in Oman, has signed a capacity agreement on the NSS-6 satellite. The capacity will allow Nawras to provide services such as high quality GSM backhaul and broadband across the Sultanate, including rural areas. Nawras is an integrated services telecommunications operator serving about two million customers throughout Oman.
NSS-6 is located at the 95 degrees East orbital position. The spacecraft’s high-performance Ku-band beam is specifically devised to support key telecom infrastructure, enterprise and broadband networks across several regions, including the Middle East.
Wolfgang Wemhoff, CTO at Nawras, said, “Satellite is an important component in our network, as it caters for voice and Internet services in hard to reach locations. We have a trusted partner in SES, where we are assured of a robust and reliable service and the best technical solution, as well as a dedicated local team which understands the dynamics and specific requirements of our business here in Oman.”
“We are very pleased that Nawras has selected SES as a partner to provide connectivity to rural areas of Oman,” said Hussein Oteifa, General Manager Middle East at SES. “SES’s satellites allow reliable connectivity, even across challenging geographical terrains, and we are delighted to deliver these best-in-class satellite services locally. Our local SES team worked closely with Nawras to ensure the solution meets their specific needs and technical requirements”. Source: Press release
11 March 2014
SatLink Communications Ltd., a leading teleport, Content Management & HD Playout Centre, has today announced that SatLink has been selected by the Ethiopian Radio and Television Agency (ERTA) for the global distribution of its ETV news channel. The Ethiopian Government owned television channel, whose broadcasts include news, entertainment, music and sports content, will extend its audience reach across Africa, North America, Europe and the Middle East over SatLink’s Global Satellite and Fibre Network.
SatLink will broadcast ETV, whose aim is to broadcast informative, educating and timely information of the development of Ethiopia utilising state-of the-art technology, to the African market utilising SatLink’s capacity on AMOS -5 C-band to allow them to effectively distribute their content easily to Africa’s multi-channel platforms. As ETV’s partner, SatLink worked closely with the broadcaster in order to help design the uplink capabilities for the channel from ETV’s facilities in Ethiopia on to Amos 5 and ensure the network of satellite’s chosen specifically met the broadcasters needs and achieve the international reach that was required.
ETV will also be transmitted across Europe and the Middle East on Hot Bird 13.0° East on the Ku-band. For distribution into the North America market, ETV will take advantage of the Galaxy 19 at 97.0° West Ku-band, which hosts the largest ethnic video platform in North America, to reach the Direct to Home (DTH) ethnic market in the US.
ETV is the latest news broadcaster to select SatLink for the global distribution of content joining international news broadcasters such as France 24, i24 News, NTV-MIR and euronews and leading news agencies including Thomson Reuters and APTN.
Mr. Worku Gachena, Deputy Director General for Media Technology at ETV commented: “We were looking for a global provider to not only distribute our content but to work alongside us as a partner to help us extend our global reach further than before. We needed a provider who had the experience to help design our uplink capabilities and also obtain satellite space on Amos-5 so we could meet the multi-channel platforms in Africa, a rapidly growing a prosperous broadcasting region. SatLink’s strategic location coupled with its extensive knowledge and experience in this market meant that we knew that they would be able to assist us as we extend our reach further and address our growing audience’s needs across the globe.”
David Hochner, CEO of SatLink, commented: “We are thrilled to work with ETV to extend its audience reach to different corners of the globe using our Global Satellite and Fibre Network. By working closely alongside ETV we gained a real understanding of their broadcasting requirements and were able to tailor a reliable and effective solution, help them uplink their signal directly from Ethiopia and be on the world’s most popular satellite TV platforms. As a result we have been able to proactively assist ETV meet the objective of reaching their audiences, much of which is scattered across multiple continents, so they are able to connect with the news that is happening back home in Ethiopia and share the success stories of the country.” (Source: Press Release)
